Your Harvard: San Francisco

On Wednesday, February 14, more than 400 alumni and friends gathered for Your Harvard: San Francisco—the final event of the series—to hear Drew Gilpin Faust, president and Lincoln Professor of History, reflect on her tenure as president, the impact of The Harvard Campaign, and the future of the University.

The program opened with a stirring video montage featuring Harvard imagery and the voice of College sophomore and National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman ’20 giving her stirring recitation of The Road Not Taken, the iconic poem authored by fellow California native and member of the Harvard Class of 1901 Robert Frost LLD ’37.

Following the montage, Michael J. Puett of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Susan M. Dymecki of Harvard Medical School joined author and business leader Charlene Li AB ’88, MBA ’93 for a conversation titled "The Heart of the Matter." Dymecki, a researcher advancing our understanding of the brain, sensory responses, and cognitive behavior, and Puett, whose work includes applying the enduring values of Chinese philosophy to the framework of contemporary times, took a thoughtful, cross-disciplinary look at the intersection of spirituality and science, how we can live our best lives in a capricious world, and what we might teach our children and students in order to build a better society.